The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to distributing energy to electric vehicles and, more particularly, to identifying an electric vehicle for use in an energy distribution transaction.
As electric vehicles and/or hybrid electric vehicles gain popularity, an associated need to accurately manage delivery of electrical energy to them has increased. Moreover, a need to recognize revenue due to the utility that provides the energy has been created by the increased use of such vehicles.
At least some known systems enable distribution of power to an electric vehicle in order to charge one or more batteries that are used by the electric vehicle for propulsion. For example, at least some known systems couple a hardware apparatus to an electric vehicle battery. The hardware apparatus communicates power distribution data and/or power usage data related to the electric vehicle to a server. The apparatus may be coupled to the server through the power grid. The server operates to control power flows within the grid according to demand in order to maintain the stability of the grid. The server also coordinates with the apparatus to enable use of the electric vehicle battery as a storage component of power that may be re-allocated at a later time. Moreover, the hardware apparatus is coupled to a common electrical outlet, such as a household power outlet that may be found in, for example, a garage.
However, such known systems do not enable an energy distribution point to obtain a unique identifier of an electric vehicle for use in a transaction that includes delivering energy to the electric vehicle for use in metering energy delivered to the electric vehicle and/or charging the customer for energy delivered to the electric vehicle. As such, systems and methods that facilitate identifying an electric vehicle prior to delivering energy and/or recognizing revenue from the delivery of energy to electric vehicles is desirable.